Mailly Grand Cru

History

The cooperative presents itself as one of the oldest cooperative structures in Champagne. Its press kit gives 24 first members in the history section and 25 founding members in the key figures, a small discrepancy in the source itself. The founding president was Gabriel Simon, a former engineering officer.¹ Today 25 grower families descended from the founders make up the membership.¹

The members dug the cellars themselves between 1931 and 1964: about 1 km of galleries at 19 m below ground. Each member gave 10 days of work a year per hectare.¹ The first tirage was 3,600 bottles.¹

Vineyard

The 70 ha are all in Mailly-Champagne, split into 35 lieux-dits whose grapes are mostly picked and vinified separately. Plantings are 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay.¹ The press kit notes that Mailly-Champagne has been rated 100% on the échelle des crus since the scales of 1911 and 1920.¹

Wines

The range has 9 cuvées. Output is about 500,000 bottles a year, more than 70% exported to more than 35 countries.¹ On labels, cooperative wines carry the code CM; see label codes.²